Years ago, I bought a quilt for my brother's room, with a nice plaid patchwork design in navy and dark red with bits of green and whitish - very nice. He didn't like the weight of it. It was cotton, with a cotton batting. And, while cotton batting is preferred for its naturalness, polyester batting is way lighter. So, it doesn't get used much, but the cats have been laying on it so I thought it should be washed.
A while back I had a nice knitted cotton throw from Garnet Hill, which was pretty over the rocker in summer, because it was white with a coral red. But when we got our new washing machine, as much as I like it, it couldn't handle a heavy, wet piece of cotton. It just stopped during the spin cycle. And that's what happened today with this plaid quilt. There it lay in the washer, sopping wet. I tried to wring it out, but it was difficult. I'd had to get rid of the pretty throw, but I wanted to salvage this quilt. I got my sewing scissors and cut it in half, and half again. I've been drying the pieces one at a time in the dryer.
I will have to bind the raw edges, but each one is throw-size. I'm sure they can be used somewhere, even if only for the cats to sleep on.
And the pieces will be much easier to wash! When I have something too large like that to launder, I often will add another item to the wash to counterbalance it. Still, it sometimes requires stopping the machine in the middle to rearrange the weight...
ReplyDeleteYes, I've done that before. It doesn't seem to be the problem with this machine. It just won't work with so much weight in it. No more all-cotton quilts!
DeleteI have a fussy washer like that, either with very heavy or very light loads. It slowly turns the washing over and over, has a try at a spin but gives up and carries on turning the washing over again and eventually after about ten minutes it gives up completely and turns itself off. Another irritation is that it sometimes doesn't like the way I've shut the washer door and beeps at me until I get it right. Sometimes I have to close (slam) the door four or five times before it's satisfied. Grrr!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've been able to find a new use for the quilt. :D
How aggravating, Clare. Glad I've got a top loader, at least. But I never heard of a machine that wouldn't work if the load was too light!
DeleteThat surprised me too. I assume it thinks there's nothing there. That machine has attitude and likes to think it's in charge!
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